Movable shield.



' K. KEMPNY. MOVABLE SHIELD. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20, I916.

1,234,174. Patented July 24,1917.

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MOVABLE SHIELD. APucAnoN FILED NOV. ZOHQIG.

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wunew UNITED STATES. PATENTOFFICE.

KARL KEMPNY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

MOVABLE SHIELD.

To all whom it may concern:

, Be it known that KARL Knmnr, subject of ,the Emperor of Austria, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, has invented certain new and useful Improvements in Movable Shields, of

which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to movable shields for protecting troops in battle and clearing away obstructions in front-of troops when moving forward.

One object of the .invention is to provide an improved. general construction of devices of this character.

A. second object of the invention is to rovide a device of this character with an lmproved means for crushing down and raising over the shleld any obstructions which may be met in its forward progress.

A third object 'of the invention is to provide a movable shield of this character having an improved form of bullet catcher and deflector.

A fourth object of the invention is the 25 provision of an improved device of this character havin special means for the destruction of bar ed wire entanglements.

With the above and other objects in view, as will be hereinafter apparent the inven- 80 tion consists in general of certain novel detailsof construction and combinations of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and specifically claimed.

5 is a section on the line 55 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of aportion 'of the.

rear end of the device showing one of the 60 steering wheels and adjacent parts.

Fig. 7 is a section on the l ne 7-7 of v Fig. 4.

- Specification of Letters Patent.

In theaccompanying drawings, like char- 8 is an enlarged detail section similar to Fig. 7 but showing the manner of bolting the bullet deflector to the rear wall, of the device.

In the embodiment of the invention herein illustrated it will be seen that the shield comprises a front wall 10, side walls 11, rear walls 12 and top 13. The general plan of the shield thus formed is rectangular and Patented July 24, 1917.. Application filed November 20, 1913. Serial No. 132,320.

at the front there is provided an axle 14 whereon are mounted wheels 15 which may be driven, if desired, by means of a motor 16 located within the shleld and connected to the driving wheels by a chain 17. In order to stiffen the sides of the device angle iron braces 18 are provided and it will be seen from 'Fig. 1 that these braces are so arranged as to deflect a bullet striking them either upward or downward according to which brace is struck. I

At the rear end of the device. there is provided an axle 19 to which are lpivoted the shaft 27 journaled in the rear walls 12 and provided with a groovedpulley 28. Around the pulley 28 and semi-circular member 25 extends a cable 29 so that movement of'the steering handle swings the lever 23 and t-urn operates the steering wheels 21.

In order to remove obstructions from in front of the device-there is provided a pair of forwardly extending arms30 to the front end of which are connected the lower ends of arcuate side frames 31 the upper and rear ends of which are connected to the sides 11 as at 32. In the lower ends of these side frames is journaled a shaft 33 whereon is a sprocket 34 connected by a chain 35 with a-sprocket 36 on the axle 14,-. On this shaft 33 is a steel drum 37 having periphery projections 38. This drum is so positioned as to be slightly above the ground and it will be observed that it rotates in the same direction as the wheels 15 so that any object against which the drum engages will be rolled down by the engagement of the pro- I jections 38 and crushed beneath the drum. On the members 31 are also provided stub shafts 39 carrying sprockets .40 which are connected to sprockets 41 by chains 42, the sprockets 41 being fixed on the shaft 33. J ournaled about centrally of the side frames '31 is a shaft 43 whereon is fixed a gear 44 'Now when the device runs against any obstruction such as a barbed wire entanglement part of the entanglement will be forced down underneath the cylinder 37 while the rest of the entanglement will be picked up by the fingers 51 and carried up onto the top or roof 13.- 'By reason of the peculiar formation of this top; or roof the wire will either be torn up bodily from its stakes or will be stressed so that it will break and leave a clear passage for the soldiers behind the shield.

Under ordinary circumstances any bullets which may strike the front of the shield will be deflected by the revolving cylinders but should any bullet strike the front wall with suflicient force to penetrate the same provision is made on the rear wall to deflect such a bullet in a way that will absorb the shock of its impact and prevent its penetrating the rear wall. To effect this there is provided on the rear wall a series of reversely curved plates 53 which extend transversely of the rear wall and are secured thereto by countersunk bolts 54. Moreover, each of these.

plates has its lower edge bent around the upper edge of the next plate below as shown at 55 so that there is no opportunity for a bullet to strike in a crack and force the edges of the plates apart thus finding its way through. Now when a bullet strikes one of these plates it will be deflected upward or downward and follow around the curve of the plate dropping backward onto the ground. Thus even if a bulletv should find its way through the front of the shield it 'would be stopped by the back.

In order to provide means whereby the soldiers may push the device forward, should it become desirable or necessary, grab irons 56 are fixed to the rear wall of the device substantially on a line with the steeringhandle 26.

There has thus been provided a simple and efficient device of the kind described and for the purpose specified. I

It is obvious that many minor changes shield to cause the rotation of said crushing means.

2. The combination with a wheel supported shield; a frame carried by the front of said shield, a cylinder extending transversely of the shield and journaled in said frame, teeth projecting from said cylinder and means operatively connecting the cylinder and certain of the wheels supporting the shield to cause said cylinder to rotate in the direction of rotation of the supporting wheels.

3. The combination with a wheel supported shield; a frame carried by the front of said shield, a cylinder extending transversely of the shield and journaled in said frame, teeth projecting from said cylinder, means operatively connecting the cylinder and certain of the wheels supporting the shield to cause said cylinder to rotate in the direction of rotation of the supporting wheels, other cylinders above and to the rear of the first-mentioned cylinder and journaled in said frame, teeth on the last-mentioned cylinders and means operatively connecting the last-mentioned cylinders with the first cylinder and arranged to cause rotation of. the last-mentioned cylinders in a direction opposite the first cylinder.

4. The combination with a wheel supported shield; a frame carried by the front of said shield, a cylinder extending transversely of the shield and journaled in said frame, teeth projecting from said cylinder, means operatively connecting the cylinder and certain of the wheels supporting the shield to cause said cylin'der to rotate in the direction of rotation of the supporting wheels, other cylinders above and to the rear of the first-mentioned cylinder and journaled in said frame, teeth on the last-mentioned cylindersand means operatively connecting the last-mentioned cylinders vwith the first cylinder and arranged to cause rotation of the last-mentioned cylinders in, a direction opposite the first cylinder, and a roof on said shield having an acuminate ridge curved upwardly from front to .rear.

5. In a device of the kind described, a wheel supported shield including a front wall, a rear wall spaced from the front wall and aseries of bullet deflectors fixe'd'to the forward face of'the rear well, said deflectors each consisting of a reversely curved plate, the lower edge of one plate being bent ,around'the upper edge of the next plate below and the corrugations extending transversely of the s hiel In testimony whereof I aflix niy signature in the presence of two witnesses. w KARL KEMPNY." Witnesses: I

- A. B. Bon'romwmz, Joan DnEB'sT. 

